My Reaction to Avatar the Last Airbender

[Lord]

Avatar the Last Airbender is the tragic story of the heroic Prince Zuko’s gradual descent into villainy. Don’t be fooled by the heavy focus on the villainous Avatar, Aang. Zuko is the main character, being the one with the arc whose actions drive the plot. Zuko is the one who ultimately is transformed by the events of the story. And in turn, changes the world.

Aang and his cohort of villainous racists are all flat characters overall. Oh, Katara whines about her mother every so often, but it doesn't actually go anywhere. And her tragic backstory is small potatoes next to literally every other character in the story. After the first ten episodes, only Sokka develops in any meaningful way. Aang doesn’t even make it that far. He begins the story as a flippant jerk who runs away from all his problems and throws a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way and ends the story as a flippant jerk who runs away from all his problems and throws a tantrum when things don’t go his way. His response to hearing an answer he doesn’t like is to go ask someone else the same question. Rince and repeat until he gets an answer he does like.

There is literally a scene where he screams at a blind girl because she couldn’t stop his pet from being kidnapped while she was saving his life and the lives of his friends. And no one calls him on it. What a jerk.

Now the primary protagonists of the story are the Fire Nation. They are a civilized society who want nothing more than to share their greatness with the rest of the world. Some people claim that they are the villains, but I don’t know why. Just compare the Fire Nation to the Earth Kingdom.

The Fire Nation has modern-day school systems that teach kids the skills they’ll need in life. They focus on education and national duty. They live in well-constructed houses of great beauty. Meanwhile, the Earth Kingdom has most of its ordinary people desperately trying to eke out a living as peasants. And what really gets to me is how everyone just passes over the Dai Li. The Earth Kingdom polices its citizens with brutal efficiency. People who speak out of turn are brainwashed into automatons. And its leadership is no better, indulging in lavish feasts without ever once concerning themselves with running their nation.

The same cannot be said of the Fire Nation. No sir, Firelord Ozai is a hands-on leader. At the end of the story, he personally leads his troops into battle. When he is dissatisfied with his son, Zuko, and his conduct, he sends him on a quest to redeem himself. He doesn’t play favorites, and really, who can blame him? Zuko is going to one day be Firelord, and he can’t do that if he blows up over every little thing in meetings.

To Zuko’s credit, he really does take this redemption quest seriously. It’s one of the things which makes his fall from grace so tragic. He continually tries new and creative methods to capture the Avatar, who generally succeeds either by having a massive power advantage, or sheer dumb luck.

Not so for the Fire Nation. They have to work for every win, and they earn it. They’re a real meritocracy.

Speaking of meritocracy, have I mentioned that the Fire Nation practices gender equality? Men and women are free to pursue any career. In sharp contrast to the Earth and Water Kingdoms, who confine women to more or less keeping house and hanging off the arm of their husbands.

Heck, even the uneducated peasantry of the Fire Nation is superior. When Fire Nation peasants are rescued from a group of ne’er do wells and learn that their heroes are water benders, their traditional enemy, they are initially mistrustful, but ultimately thank them. In sharp contrast, when Zuko rescues an entire town from bandits while half starved to death, he is promptly rejected and forced to flee without even a chance to rest.

I really don’t understand where all the hate for Ozai comes from. I mean after he conquers the world he plans to do a massive urban renewal of the Earth Kingdom. The largest one in history. And let me tell you, having seen some of the buildings in the Earth Kingdom, I think it really needs it.

The series is quite fun overall. But what I don’t like is the ending.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand this is a tragedy. But the heroic Ozai’s defeat should at least be credible. I thought that they were going to have Zuko kill him, cementing his slide into evil. Or perhaps have Aang defeat him in single combat.

But I was disappointed.

This is what happens:

Ozai kicks Aang’s butt. It isn’t even a contest. After all the buildup to this showdown, the Firelord completely annihilates him in about thirty seconds. All Aang can do is defend. Then, completely out of nowhere, Aang gets hit with a rock that randomly lets him go into his god state.

I'm not joking.

This on its own would be bad enough, but to add insult to injury, Aang still can’t beat Ozai. Ozai is not going to surrender. And Aang is too much of a hypocritical coward to kill his enemy. Oh, sure, Aang has the largest kill count in the series at this point, having sunk an entire fleet of men just doing their jobs. But he has to feel good about himself.

Now in a sane world, Aang’s own complete lack of responsibility would lead him letting his guard down and getting shot in the back by Ozai. Because, you know, it’s a war and people die. But instead, the universe bends over backward to give Aang a completely new power that has never before been mentioned, foreshadowed, or brought up. This allows him to take away Ozai’s bending.

What?!

Unless you’ve seen Avatar, there is no way to describe what a complete disservice this is to the story. Literally, the entire plot has revolved around Aang learning to use the four elements. They even named the seasons after one element each. Entire arcs revolved finding his teachers. And there was never even a hint that there was any kind of bending other than the four elements.

I’m pretty sure Aristotle never said anything about spirit.

I know that Aang is the villain, but even villains should earn their victories. And the final showdown literally renders the ENTIRE STORY UP TO THIS POINT MEANINGLESS!


And now I’m going to break character. I can't talk about the following while praising the Fire Nation.

You see, Aang has always had this god mode thing. It instantly gives him max ranks in all bending powers. It’s basically a deus ex machina machine designed to get him out of situations he is too stupid to escape on his own. But of course, if he has this, one wonders why he doesn’t just pick a fight with Ozai right away. The explanation is that if he is killed in this state, his soul will cease to exist. Period. So it instantly heightens the stakes. To further increase the stakes, this god mode is sealed at the end of Season 2. So Aang is going to have to fight Ozai by his own strength.

Except Aang completely fails. Ozai utterly annihilates him. Then he goes into the god mode state anyway and beats Ozai. Which means that the entire story was a gigantic waste of time.

Aang could have literally just flown straight to the Fire Nation and picked a fight with Ozai. He’d have gone into the Avatar state and won easily. And when you add to that the fact that he is sheltered from having to mature as a person by a complete deus ex machina, I can’t begin to describe what a complete failure, on even the most basic levels of storytelling this climax is!

And what’s worse, Aang doesn’t even save the world! Sokka, Katara and Zuko do. Sokka is the one who destroys all the airships, and Zuko is the one who prevents Azula from becoming Firelord. If either one of them had failed, either the war would have continued, or the Earth Kingdom would have been destroyed.
What would have happened if Aang had failed, but the other two had succeeded?

Ozai would have been left alone, deep in enemy territory, with the entire world against him. Aang’s failure would be wholly meaningless. The only thing that would change is that Iroh or Pakku or Zuko would have gotten the kill on Ozai. Hell, you could have probably killed Aang off at the end of Season 2, and I don’t think you’d even have to rewrite the story that much. Sure, Zuko would have a much harder time turning good, and someone else would have to get rid of Ozai. But you would have had more episodes to do it since we wouldn't be wasting time pretending as if Aang is the main character. We'd even be spared that nauseating final kiss at the end.

Basically, Aang sucks. He has no arc. His sheer overpowered nature robs the story of all tension. And his presence in the story is more of a Mcguffin than an actual character. He is important because the Fire Nation is looking for him. That’s it. Remove him from the plot and replace with a magic flying carpet that Katara uses to get to the north pole, and you would not have to do that much rewriting.
And the climax might have been worth something.


Anyway, back in character.

Overall Avatar the Last Airbender was a heartrending tragedy. Apparently some of the comics feature Zuko attempting to redeem himself by protecting the colonies of the Fire Nation from the monstrous Earth Kingdom. Even so, the main villain leaves much to be desired.

[Otomodachi]

Not sure what your goal is, and while your formatting is good the... two? Three? levels of irony you're trying to use make your post essentially un-parse-able to me. I'm not saying this to be a jerk; I just think you'll be more likely to get people to engage you on whatever your point is if you just say it clearly and concisely instead of... like this. Laters! :)

[Lord]

My goal was originally to do a parody of people who claim that the Fire Nation are the good guys by whitewashing all their bad deeds and overplaying their virtues. While I was doing that I got sidetracked talking about my personal frustrations with the character of Aang, who I feel was a largely static character who did almost nothing to drive the plot. To the point where I would argue that literally any other member of the main cast has a better claim to being main character than he does.

[Razade]

Not sure what your goal is, and while your formatting is good the... two? Three? levels of irony you're trying to use make your post essentially un-parse-able to me. I'm not saying this to be a jerk; I just think you'll be more likely to get people to engage you on whatever your point is if you just say it clearly and concisely instead of... like this. Laters! :)

It's just a tongue in cheek deconstruction of the series as a whole. Neither unique, thought provoking or particularly amusing but that seems to be the goal all the same.

My goal was originally to do a parody of people who claim that the Fire Nation are the good guys by whitewashing all their bad deeds and overplaying their virtues.

Why though? They're their own parody.

[Otomodachi]

My goal was originally to do a parody of people who claim that the Fire Nation are the good guys by whitewashing all their bad deeds and overplaying their virtues. While I was doing that I got sidetracked talking about my personal frustrations with the character of Aang, who I feel was a largely static character who did almost nothing to drive the plot. To the point where I would argue that literally any other member of the main cast has a better claim to being main character than he does.

Oh, that makes sense. I guess I'm not invested enough in the fandom to realize there was a segment of people that did that.

All I can really say in terms of Aang is that... the show takes place over the course of one year. People don't evolve that much, in my experience, in a year, even for kids. He learned how to DO new stuff, but I don't think his core "who he is" would change all that much.

The spirit stuff/avatar state stuff didn't really come out of left field to me. I mean, a lot of asian mysticism involves five elements. Plato and Aristotle both talked about Aether or Quintessence, although it wasn't until Artistotle that it took a place as a proper fifth (and more, eh, basic/primal) element.

I'm also gonna generally gonna asssume that if a person's power set includes having access to past lives, at some point they're gonna go into a group-think-uber-mode at some point.

[Cikomyr]

My goal was originally to do a parody of people who claim that the Fire Nation are the good guys by whitewashing all their bad deeds and overplaying their virtues. While I was doing that I got sidetracked talking about my personal frustrations with the character of Aang, who I feel was a largely static character who did almost nothing to drive the plot. To the point where I would argue that literally any other member of the main cast has a better claim to being main character than he does.

In fairness, Firelord Sozin 's intension may have come from somewhere good and slightly altruistic, but it was heavily muddled with pride, nationalist arrogance and what I can only qualify as the Fire Nation equivalent of "white man' s burden".

A perfectly myopic society can think its doing good by colonizing lands and societies it views as primitive and in disarray. But more often than not, any "civilization" achieved is merely meant as a mean to facilitate the occupation, and the colonized nation's economy and culture is forced into a detrimental servitude of the motherland.

The occupier likes to think the occupation is a mean to facilitate civilization, but its always civilisation is a mean to facilitate the occupation.

[Otomodachi]

In fairness, Firelord Sozin 's intension may have come from somewhere good and slightly altruistic, but it was heavily muddled with pride, nationalist arrogance and what I can only qualify as the Fire Nation equivalent of "white man' s burden".

A perfectly myopic society can think its doing good by colonizing lands and societies it views as primitive and in disarray. But more often than not, any "civilization" achieved is merely meant as a mean to facilitate the occupation, and the colonized nation's economy and culture is forced into a detrimental servitude of the motherland.

The occupier likes to think the occupation is a mean to facilitate civilization, but its always civilisation is a mean to facilitate the occupation.

A better-educated person than me could probably compare the need for cultural diversity and biodiversity, in times of stress, really effectively. Best I can do is throw the comparison out and second your point, sadly.

[Magic_Hat]

I like the episode with the cabbage guy.

Also this:

[Yanagi]

A better-educated person than me could probably compare the need for cultural diversity and biodiversity, in times of stress, really effectively. Best I can do is throw the comparison out and second your point, sadly.

I'm literally a specialist on colonialism, and...between you and Cikomyr there's nothing more to say about the subject.

Conquest and extraction of resources from colonial holdings create "civilization"--infrastructure and education--to the extent that it expedites extraction of resources that enrich the conquerors.

Last Airbender does a pretty good job of depicting that.

My goal was originally to do a parody

If I judge by intent, you're engaging in a specific style of parody called stiob. Gently...it does not succeed as a parody because there's no clear satirical element, but that's not because your writing is poor.

You are referencing things inside a fan culture that the audience does not have as reference, so key distinctions between earnest bad takes and winking bad takes on "Last Airbender" aren't in the audience's lexicon. Without that group-specific knowledge, there's no funny.

Also Internet hot takes are sort of beyond parody because there's very little ability for the reader to parse out what level of irony or hyperbole the author is operating under. Also, good faith on the part of an author cannot be assumed since bad faith argument (trolling) is literally a form of recreation. Heck, at this point I suspect that many takes are written explicitly to be ambiguous about their sincerity, so that the author can claim trolling/joking if the reception is not what they expected or they get pushback they can't handle, but play the same ideas straight if they get positive reactions.

[Morty]

The parody may have fallen flat a bit, but you really can't argue about Aang's Avatar State being unlocked by a random rock.

[Cikomyr]

The parody may have fallen flat a bit, but you really can't argue about Aang's Avatar State being unlocked by a random rock.

It hit him straight in the Chakra that Azula closed with a lightning strike at the end of Season 2. Exactly where his scar is. That "random rock" happened to be a lucky break, sure, but the whole "Chakra unlocks the Avatar State" was hardly a new element (pun intended).

Also, Aang had a clear killing shot at the ready during the final battle, prior to unlocking his Avatar state. But he didn't take it because he was still unable to outright kill.

If Aang had willed to redirect Lightning and kill Ozai there and then, he never would have recovered his Avatar state, which is an analogy to Enlightenment.

[Lord]

If Aang had willed to redirect Lightning and kill Ozai there and then, he never would have recovered his Avatar state, which is an analogy to Enlightenment.

Where I'm from we call something coming right out of nowhere to solve the main character's problems in a contrived and out of context fashion a deus ex machina. But whatever floats your boat.

Energy bending does not exist because it served a need in the story. Far from it, it comes completely out of nowhere for the sole purpose of ensuring Aang doesn't have to mature as a person and kill Ozai. And no, not killing Ozai doesn't get him closer to enlightenment. Ozai was a grade A monster and his continued existence goes on to cause all kinds of problems for the Gaang in the sequel comics.

If he'd just shot him, none of those problems would have happened.

And you'll forgive me if I don't care about Aang's thou-shall-not-kill code which, like so many others things in the final episodes, comes right out of nowhere. Because he slaughtered an entire fleet at the North Pole. And even if you say the Ocean Spirit made him do it, he also buried an army under a wave of snow at the Northern Air Temple. So compared to the thousands of innocent soldiers who were just doing their job, who he consigned to a painful freezing death of suffocation, I don't think Ozai being humanely destroyed will cause a blip on Aaang's enlightenment meter.

Take away the disingenuous moralizing and what we have is an immature person ignoring the advice of his friends, all of his past lives, and putting the entire world at risk of destruction, so that he doesn't have to get his hands dirty. If Aang had stuck to the plan Sokka laid out, they could have wiped out Ozai before his fleet even took off. Instead he abandoned his friends to go hang out with the deus ex machina turtle. Yes, he arguably was summoned there or whatever, but he was in no hurry to get back.

And rather than having to man up and accept the responsibility of protecting the world, Aang is sheltered from having to have any kind of arc because the universe bends over backwards to make sure he doesn't have to change.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that the last four episodes almost ruin the entire show. Aang's resolution is unsatisfying, logically suspect, and totally inconsistent with the previous installments of the franchise, and for good measure renders the entire process of learning to bend the elements pointless. The only reason it doesn't destroy the show is because Zuko's resolution is actually pretty good.

Because Zuko IS the main character. He drives the plot the most. He develops the most. His decisions ultimately matter the most. Zuko chooses to side with Azula in Ba Sing Se, Zuko chooses to break with his father when he goes too far. Those are the decisions that change the face of the Avatar world. Aang is nothing more than a plot device, a living Mcguffin for Zuko to chase. You could have probably removed most of his screen time and the narrative would have worked just as well.

Come to think of it, if someone made an Arrested Development style show, featuring the Fire Nation's Royal Family, and their screwed up family antics, I'd watch it.

[Mechalich]

And you'll forgive me if I don't care about Aang's thou-shall-not-kill code which, like so many others things in the final episodes, comes right out of nowhere. Because he slaughtered an entire fleet at the North Pole. And even if you say the Ocean Spirit made him do it, he also buried an army under a wave of snow at the Northern Air Temple. So compared to the thousands of innocent soldiers who were just doing their job, who he consigned to a painful freezing death of suffocation, I don't think Ozai being humanely destroyed will cause a blip on Aaang's enlightenment meter.

Here's the problem, you're thinking entirely in-universe and not considering the publishing imperatives at work. Avatar, the Last Airbender was a children's series that aired on Nickelodeon. Aang killing Ozai outright in a climatic single combat was not allowed, whereas the implied death of thousands off-screen is perfectly okay. That's the nature of the ratings system and its interactions with fantasy violence. For Aang to kill Ozai at all he would have to do so in an indirect, implied way, such as knocking him off a cliff. He can't lightning blast him through the face any more than Sokka could plunge a sword into his gut.

If Avatar were an actual Japanese anime series, instead of an American show that looks a lot like one, this would not be a problem and Aang could have made the developmental leap to kill Ozai outright and then subsequently done so. However, because Avatar is an American show they could not do that and had to try and write around it (in addition to trying to conclude the series as a whole in a very truncated timeframe) and it didn't work properly. This is not uncommon in terms of action heavy children's animation in the US, even certifiably great shows like Batman: the Animated Series have evidence of it in spades. The storytelling is often forced to pull bizarre contortions in order to appease ratings requirements.

[Cikomyr]

Where I'm from we call something coming right out of nowhere to solve the main character's problems in a contrived and out of context fashion a deus ex machina. But whatever floats your boat.

Energy bending does not exist because it served a need in the story. Far from it, it comes completely out of nowhere for the sole purpose of ensuring Aang doesn't have to mature as a person and kill Ozai. And no, not killing Ozai doesn't get him closer to enlightenment. Ozai was a grade A monster and his continued existence goes on to cause all kinds of problems for the Gaang in the sequel comics.

If he'd just shot him, none of those problems would have happened.

And you'll forgive me if I don't care about Aang's thou-shall-not-kill code which, like so many others things in the final episodes, comes right out of nowhere. Because he slaughtered an entire fleet at the North Pole. And even if you say the Ocean Spirit made him do it, he also buried an army under a wave of snow at the Northern Air Temple. So compared to the thousands of innocent soldiers who were just doing their job, who he consigned to a painful freezing death of suffocation, I don't think Ozai being humanely destroyed will cause a blip on Aaang's enlightenment meter.

Take away the disingenuous moralizing and what we have is an immature person ignoring the advice of his friends, all of his past lives, and putting the entire world at risk of destruction, so that he doesn't have to get his hands dirty. If Aang had stuck to the plan Sokka laid out, they could have wiped out Ozai before his fleet even took off. Instead he abandoned his friends to go hang out with the deus ex machina turtle. Yes, he arguably was summoned there or whatever, but he was in no hurry to get back.

And rather than having to man up and accept the responsibility of protecting the world, Aang is sheltered from having to have any kind of arc because the universe bends over backwards to make sure he doesn't have to change.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that the last four episodes almost ruin the entire show. Aang's resolution is unsatisfying, logically suspect, and totally inconsistent with the previous installments of the franchise, and for good measure renders the entire process of learning to bend the elements pointless. The only reason it doesn't destroy the show is because Zuko's resolution is actually pretty good.

Because Zuko IS the main character. He drives the plot the most. He develops the most. His decisions ultimately matter the most. Zuko chooses to side with Azula in Ba Sing Se, Zuko chooses to break with his father when he goes too far. Those are the decisions that change the face of the Avatar world. Aang is nothing more than a plot device, a living Mcguffin for Zuko to chase. You could have probably removed most of his screen time and the narrative would have worked just as well.

Come to think of it, if someone made an Arrested Development style show, featuring the Fire Nation's Royal Family, and their screwed up family antics, I'd watch it.

Hey, screw you. If you don't care about what the show cares to be about in the first place, just go back to your edgy violent animes and stop bothering us. I am sure there's plenty of shows where a 12 year old kid doesn't blink at personally killing another sentient being. Go watch that.

I have a whole argument about how the ending makes perfect thematical, philosophical and narrative sense, but you are clearly not worth the 20 minutes it would take me to write it with the level of care it deserves.

[Kyberwulf]

I find it kind of sad, that you see killing as a sign of maturity.

Also, the kind is what? 10 or 11?

I always find it funny how people say the show is pretty immature, when it's following the exploits of a bunch of kinds.

[Lord]

Hey, screw you. If you don't care about what the show cares to be about in the first place, just go back to your edgy violent animes and stop bothering us. I am sure there's plenty of shows where a 12 year old kid doesn't blink at personally killing another sentient being. Go watch that.

I have a whole argument about how the ending makes perfect thematical, philosophical and narrative sense, but you are clearly not worth the 20 minutes it would take me to write it with the level of care it deserves.

It was not my intention to come off as hostile. I apologize.

I don't regard killing as a sign of maturity. I regard running away from your problems as a sign of immaturity. And that is all Aang does for his entire life. And he is rewarded for it.

I do care about what the show cares about. That is why I hate the ending. What I object to is the blatantly hypocritical way in which it pursues its vaunted ideals. You cannot have an aesop about how killing is wrong, when your main character has the highest bodycount in the show. Azula killed maybe one or two people and it was ambigious. Aang slaughtered entire armies in season 1. And the pacifism aspect was never even hinted at until the last four episodes. He never objected to the idea of killing the Firelord during the eclipse.

Just for the record, Aang doesn't blink at killing sentient beings. He buries numerous soldiers under an avalanche and sinks an entire fleet. He only blinks when they have a name and face in the narrative.

If you have any insight, I am glad to hear it and respond with arguments of my own.

[Morty]

Here's the problem, you're thinking entirely in-universe and not considering the publishing imperatives at work. Avatar, the Last Airbender was a children's series that aired on Nickelodeon. Aang killing Ozai outright in a climatic single combat was not allowed, whereas the implied death of thousands off-screen is perfectly okay. That's the nature of the ratings system and its interactions with fantasy violence. For Aang to kill Ozai at all he would have to do so in an indirect, implied way, such as knocking him off a cliff. He can't lightning blast him through the face any more than Sokka could plunge a sword into his gut.

If Avatar were an actual Japanese anime series, instead of an American show that looks a lot like one, this would not be a problem and Aang could have made the developmental leap to kill Ozai outright and then subsequently done so. However, because Avatar is an American show they could not do that and had to try and write around it (in addition to trying to conclude the series as a whole in a very truncated timeframe) and it didn't work properly. This is not uncommon in terms of action heavy children's animation in the US, even certifiably great shows like Batman: the Animated Series have evidence of it in spades. The storytelling is often forced to pull bizarre contortions in order to appease ratings requirements.

Yeah, I'm not sure why people keep forgetting that. Aang killing Ozai just wasn't going to happen, period. And really, energy-bending wasn't a bad alternative, as such. It was a fitting way for Aang to handle the problem. It's just that the presentation and execution fell flat on its face.

[darkrose50]

Sometimes bad-guys do good. Sometimes good-guys do bad. In war we get good people and horrible people on each side. Germany under he-who-must-not-be-named did all sorts of high science stuff. They pointed out that smoking was bad. They gave us jet plans, and jets to go into space. They gave us the atom bomb. All the same overall they are the archetype for evil.

[Cikomyr]

Sometimes bad-guys do good. Sometimes good-guys do bad. In war we get good people and horrible people on each side. Germany under he-who-must-not-be-named did all sorts of high science stuff. They pointed out that smoking was bad. They gave us jet plans, and jets to go into space. They gave us the atom bomb. All the same overall they are the archetype for evil.

Cool. Show me again when that is a resolution of a kids show and I'll consider your bonker argument.

[darkrose50]

Cool. Show me again when that is a resolution of a kids show and I'll consider your bonker argument.

I would argue that part of the kids shows goal was to tell stories that included the element that even the bad-guys have good-guys (the enemy who we kill are also human, and some of them we would otherwise be friends with if we met another way). Or perhaps the show writers wanted to just reflect a bit of reality amid a show about super-powered-magic.

[Anonymouswizard]

I have a whole argument about how the ending makes perfect thematical, philosophical and narrative sense, but you are clearly not worth the 20 minutes it would take me to write it with the level of care it deserves.

Jumping on this, I really do think the ending would have been cheapened if Aang killed Ozai. The entire third book revolves around Aang coming around to face his problems head on without abandoning his airbender code entirely (which is the main cause of his tendency to try and avoid them in the first place), with the final four episodes being the climax of it. While it would have been better for Aang to discover energybending and seek it out (we can either replace one of the earlier episodes* or add a scene to their time in the library), I personally don't mind Aang stumbling across it in his last, desperate search for a solution (especially as he does have at least one opportunity to kill Ozai and chooses not to).

There's also the fact that letting Ozai live on but without his power is a far stronger statement in-world. It gives Aang a much stronger moral high ground when he's working with Zuko to fix the world.


On the subject of Zuko, I'd actually argue that he's closer to the main character than Aang is. While the focus is certainly on Aang it's Zuko who gets the complex and fully developed character arc, it's just that the story of Aang also has to be told for the last sixth to make sense. But then again, I am a Zukang (and Zukatang) shipper.

* I vote for The Great Divide.

[Yora]

I think the main thing that made Avatar the success that it was is that it's basically two shows in one: The Adventures of Aang for kids, and The Troubled Trials of Zuko for grown ups.
The former didn't do much for me, especially during the first half or so of the episodes. But The Zuko Show is soooo good. Aang Adventures are important for the context, and I don't think you could untangle the two. But The Zuko Show is why I watched it. And rewatched it a couple of time.

(Toph is super fun, but not much depth.)

I would argue that part of the kids shows goal was to tell stories that included the element that even the bad-guys have good-guys (the enemy who we kill are also human, and some of them we would otherwise be friends with if we met another way). Or perhaps the show writers wanted to just reflect a bit of reality amid a show about super-powered-magic.

After having watched it a second or third time, I started to feel that Katara often gets really dark. She wants to be a Lawful Good paragon, but of course being human and pretty much a kid in a show that makes some attempts at being somewhat realistic at it, she can't live up to that standard she has set for herself. She refuses to acknowledge those shortcommings to herself, and when others don't play along with her act of being a beloved benevolent leader she gets really agressive. Katara is just the kind of character who is just one bad day away from falling to the Dark Side.
In practice, I don't think it was handled very well, though. Aang and Sokka almost always give her too much slack. Toph is perhaps the only one who sees it, but so confrontational and stubborn that their arguments always end in a moral draw. And Katara is really good at deluding herself. So the show ends up never fully commiting to it until close to the end, and then there's no time to properly deal with it and give it a resolution.

[Ibrinar]

While yes logically he has slaughtered many people it isn't so much that he suddenly changes his character it is that the show simply ignores the existence of any implied death. It is hardly alone in that for instance logically if a superhero brings down countless buildings without plenty time for evacuation people will die but there are plenty stories that gloss over that. As far as the show is concerned he hasn't killed anyone so it isn't inconsistent. Him not having killed someone doesn't stand up to logic but it is something one has to live with when watching shows that include kids in their audience. Like punching someone so hard they leave a crater in a stone wall is fine while stabbing them through the chest with a sword isn't. And fireballs act pretty much as physical projectiles when hitting someone maybe +explosion instead of horribly burning them.


As for the first post: Trying to mix your real actual opinions with something like that turns it into a tedious read. I recommend separating them in the future.

[Kyberwulf]

Also pointing this out. When those guys were killed, it wasn't Aang that did it. IT was the Avatar. Aang didn't have full control of it at that point.

Also I think the ending was abrupt because I think they found out they were cancelled, and had to rush an ending.

[Cikomyr]

Ok. First of all, energy bending. It is somewhat coming out of nowhere. However in all societies where the Four Classical Elements are established, there will be a Fifth Element that binds them.

Greeks called it Aether. The equivalent in Babylonia, Tibet, India and Japan was "Void". Therefore, having something that is beyond the Classical Four and yet has some control over them is not a purely out of left field idea.

Also, stuff like Spirits have been a strongly established part of the lore, so the idea of extra-classical power is also not of left field.


Second, when it comes to "Aang's personal responsibilities", and the idea that he fled from them and got rewarded. That's crap I'd say. Aang paid a dear price the first time he ran away, and he ran because he did not wanted to face his responsibilities. His entire people were killed. The world was plunged in fire and blood.

At the end, he faced his responsibility. He did not ran away, he went looking for answers in a spiritual sense. And even when he was fully unsure of himself, he still was willing to step up. That is the completion of Aang's journey.

Before, he stepped up only when he was confident (foolishly at times). But his personal journey was about having a greater understanding of the world, his limits, and still build up the courage to face challenges when he was anything but confident.


The whole sequence about the previous Avatars telling him to be decisive, and making sure the threat was definetly dealt with is, in my opinion, an absolute stroke of genius. The thematic on display is a nuanced and carefully balanced one:

"Heed the wisdom of your elders, but don't accept it without question."

It's an aesop that is even made clearer in "The Promise", where Aang rejects Roku's advice about the mingling of nations and seeks his own path. Had Aang accepted blindly the words of his elders, he never would have recovered the Avatar state and all the enlightenment it represents.

Also, he never would have been able to push the boundaries of what the Avatar is able to do. It's a matter of not merely representing the sum of your past lives, but also Aang adding to that sum. If you just walk in the footsteps of your forebears, never will you blaze new trails.

And when you have forebears as.. Large in magnitude as the Avatars, it's easy to just hide in their shadow. Which Aang, in the end, never did. He isn't the Avatar currently known as Aang, but Aang himself, his own person.

[Lethologica]

Also pointing this out. When those guys were killed, it wasn't Aang that did it. IT was the Avatar. Aang didn't have full control of it at that point.

Also I think the ending was abrupt because I think they found out they were cancelled, and had to rush an ending.

Also, this is what sets in motion the events of book 2: Aang is scared by what his Avatar State will do when he's not in control because of what it's done in the past that violated Aang's moral code. That's why he seeks out a teacher who can help him control the Avatar State, instead of just flying up to Ozai's castle and hoping things will work out. (Well, that and he doesn't even know how to activate the Avatar State before meeting Guru Pathik, so even if his morals were more flexible he still couldn't just "fly straight to the Fire Nation and pick a fight with Ozai.")

[Bastian Weaver]

Personally, I think it was a great movie, and I wish they made a sequel.

[Anonymouswizard]

Personally, I think it was a great movie, and I wish they made a sequel.

I'm not sure how serious you're being...

Spoiler: Thoughts on the film

Show

The film is at the end of the day an okay film let down by some poor actors and enough executive meddling that other actors didn't care by the shoots that were used in the film. It also suffers from having to rush through the story, meaning that some of the things that made sense in the series don't anymore (*cough* imprisoned earthbenders *cough*)

Also, Bending is absolutely wimpified, to the point where it seems like firebenders are the only ones who don't need seven benders in order to make a basic attack (possibly airbenders also get attacks that don't take eight people). Also yeah, removing the creation of fire from chi as a basic technique also means they firebenders have to carry around external sources, which leads to the stones silliness of nobody ever thinking of maybe smothering those fires in dirt or splashing then with water.

The movie could have been great, if it had another half hour or so, a better actress for Katara, and used takes where the actors actually cared.

[Morty]

Ok. First of all, energy bending. It is somewhat coming out of nowhere. However in all societies where the Four Classical Elements are established, there will be a Fifth Element that binds them.

Greeks called it Aether. The equivalent in Babylonia, Tibet, India and Japan was "Void". Therefore, having something that is beyond the Classical Four and yet has some control over them is not a purely out of left field idea.

Also, stuff like Spirits have been a strongly established part of the lore, so the idea of extra-classical power is also not of left field.

Which is why taking Ozai's bending would have been a fine and appropriate way of resolving the conflict... if it had been set up properly. Or at all. The third season had pacing problems in general, so I guess maybe it was going to be established better at some point but wasn't. It's hard to speculate.

It really perplexes me why discussion about this ending revolves around whether or not Aang should have killed Ozai. Might as well argue that Sokka should have invented a gun and shot him in the back from a safe distance.

[Silfir]

What was Sanderson's maxim - "Your ability to resolve a conflict with magic is directly proportional to how well your reader understands that magic"?

Bending in general is well-established, but that pesky energy bending was introduced too late and too incompletely to get all the watchers on board with it as the resolution to the the story's climactic conflict. There's no question that it's a flaw in an otherwise excellent story.

I suspect they simply wrote themselves into a corner. Aang couldn't kill Ozai, nor could he spare him. A valid alternative might have been for Ozai to off himself accidentally, like Disney villains tend to do. But then, "Never stop looking for a third option" is a pretty good message. Sometimes people just get too enamored with trolley problems.